Music in Milan and Milan by night.
The composers, the conductors, the singers who lived and worked here.
The Venues, the Museums, the Craftsmanship.
Milan: the capital of discography.
Milan on stage.
And if you love jazz …
Dante in the Paradise makes it clear that music is rapture, not understanding. Book your private guided tour now
I can understand the framework of music by analyzing its constituent elements, but the message is elusive.
The music of Milan has ancient roots. The Ambrosian chants are among the first codified music in Western culture.
La Scala is the world’s best-known opera house dating back to 1778. Book your private guided tour now
The publishing house Casa Ricordi was founded in Milan in 1808 by Giovanni Ricordi and counts among its large catalogue works by such legendary composers as Verdi, Puccini and Rossini, modern classics as Nono, Grisey and Varèse and contemporary composers as Francesconi and Battistelli. Its musical archive is one of the most important private musical archives, it preserves the original handwritten scores of 23 of Verdi’s 28 operas, all the operas by Giacomo Puccini, as well as a great many works by composers like Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti and living composers …
The Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi is the largest institute of musical education in Italy. It is on the premises of an ancient monastery and houses performance areas hosting a number of concert series, all year round. In its 200-year history, the conservatory has educated some of the most prominent musicians and conductors, including Giacomo Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Amilcare Ponchielli, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, A. Benedetti Michelangeli, Maurizio Pollini, Claudio Abbado …
Casa Verdi is a home for retired opera singers and musicians. It was established by the composer Giuseppe Verdi in 1899 at the age of 76. “L’opera mia più bella”, my most beautiful work, that’s how Verdi referred to the House. Those who live there, “My Guests,” he said, still play and sing for their own enjoyment and, occasionally, for visitors. Book your private guided tour now
The itineraries of the private guided tours I design for music-lovers are about:
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- The museums of musical instruments in Milan.
- Ancient organs: the city boasts a rich patrimony created by important organ makers and still preserved from the action of the time.
- Mozart in Milan. The 14-year-old Wolfang Amadeus arrived in the city chaperoned by his father at the time of the Hapsburg Empire. He returned twice to Milan (August–December 1771; October 1772–March 1773 for the composition and premieres of Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. His son Karl Thomas lived and died in Milan where he is buried.
Which Milan did Mozart see and get familiar with? That is the aim of our tour. - The Milanese places of Giuseppe Verdi. Book your private guided tour now
Opera music is the Italian national identity. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Gioacchino Rossini, Gaetano Donizzetti and Vincenzo Bellini. He was born in the same year of Richard Wagner and both of them figure equally among the greatest achievements of 19th-century culture. The relationship between the Maestro and Milan was so intense and deep he decided to link his name forever with it. We will see all the places where he lived.
- Private collections of musical instruments in Milan (to be booked in advance).
- Guitars and basses: craftsmanship in the very heart of Milan. The shop window of a rock ’n’ roll luthier.
- Would you like to test your musical ear and learn the original sound that composers listened to when they created their music, whether they were Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Verdi and so on? In search of lost sounds is a unique and exiting journey through time where all the instruments are always ready to be played. The unique venue is about half an hour by car from the historical centre. The six-hour experience includes a high-quality vehicle registered for passenger transport driven by a professional driver. Contact Barbara Quarello now
- Cremona: violin capital of the world.
It is not clear exactly who made the first violins, but there is good evidence that they originate from northern Italy, near Milan, the violin maker Gasparo from Salò, Garda Lake, is an example. The first clear record of a violin-like instrument comes from paintings by Gaudenzio Ferrari about 1530 (see the pics above). Cremona became a centre of musical instrument manufacture in the beginning of the 16th century With the violins of the Amati and Rugeri families and later with the Guarneri and Stradivari workshops, Cremona became a centre of musical instrument manufacture.
In 2012 the “Traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona” was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. Today about 140 violin workshops hand down the tradition of the old Masters. This tour includes a high-quality vehicle too and lasts 8 hours.Duration of the first six private guided walking tours: about 4 hours.
Also take a look at the photos above to figure out the places I would like you to visit.
